My South Africa bike jinx continues

The Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour was this weekend. Billed as the world's biggesr bike ride, it starts and ends in Cape Town and is a scenic 108km ride around the Cape Point.

I was looking forward to riding after getting in (and paying for) with an international entry - R400. I was also lucky and bumped up from the usual international starting crowd into the 'Z' group. But Saturday evening, as I was going out on an easy warm-up spin, my chain broke just outside the flat. A panicked run back into the house and a short drive to Bowman Cycles down on Bree Street later, I thought I was in the clear with a new chain. Nope.

The ride started off great, and I was flying along tucked behind some tandems that had started in the 'AA' group. Unfortunately, just as I got to Fish Hoek, I heard a horrific crunch. Pulling over, I found my Campy Record rear derailleur ripped in half, with the pulleys and the chain twisted badly. After much teeth grinding and frustration, a very nice and skilled mechanic named Bev rode by and helped me rig my my Campy 10 speed bike into a single speed and off I went again at a more sedate pace.

Unfortunately, I kept having to pull over because the chain would get jammed between the rear cogs on my cassette. The final straw came just outside Simonstown as we started climbing up. My chain snagged again, and this time I didn't have enough spare functional links to make my chain fit even a 39x12. I decided that pushing my bike and coasting on my bike for the next 60 km was only inviting more damage to the bike. I got the hint that today was not to be.

Yeah, I'm frustrated/upset/angry that I couldn't finish the ride. Even 24 hours later, I still have a lot of the endorphins rushing around. I guess I'm more competitive than I like to admit.

883,008,000 seconds old, give or take

Thursday evening we went off to the suburb of Wynberg to help volunteer at the Community Chest Carnival in Maynardville. The carnival, in its 27-ish year of operation, is a big elaborate carnival with all sorts of food and game booths staffed by various charity organizations. We were working at the Dutch licorice aka 'drops' stand with my host club, the Rotary Waterfront. I never knew there were so many different kinds of licorice! Two kinds of sweet, one with a touch of peppermint and the other with a bit of cinnamon. Then there's the regular mild and soft licorice. And the salty fishes, the hard coins/cats/farm equipment, the super salty 'double zolter', and the even saltier licorice balls. Unfortunately, I had signed Becky up to help too without checking with her, because it turns out she hates licorice. But she was a good sport about it, especially when people asked her about which was her favorite.

I was really grumpy on Friday. Last weekend, I lost my beloved 8-year old Oakleys. I finally worked up the courage to go ahead and just purchase a replacement (since I have a number of perfectly fine replacement lenses). Ouch. The retail on those things is ridiculous, and that's compounded by the fact that I know its a complete extravagance when surrounded by the economic inequity and poverty of South Africa. Oh well, just one more example of the Cape Town bubble.

On Saturday, after missing the UCT Cycling Team ride, I drove down to Westlake and set off around the cape on my bike for a couple of hours. [BABOON PICTURE] However, in the last few kms before I got home, I heard a soft *snap* sound and suddenly felt my saddle sliding backwards. I thought the seat post bolt might have worked its way loose, but a quick visual and (stupid) tactile exam revealed that I had snapped my lovely Campy Record carbon fiber seatpost. I'm not too sure what happened, as I didn't hit a large pothole and I'd been riding that bike for several weeks now here in South Africa. So I gingerly rode back to Cyclelab and eventually bought a Ritchey WCS seatpost replacement. More unexpected expenses.

For dinner, Becky and I invited some of the other Cape Town Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars over. Becky put together a wonderful swiss chard and mushroom lasagna finished off with a birthday carrot cake. Yum!

Sunday was a relaxed day, mostly spent lounging around the flat. Then it was off to Kirstenbosch to hear The Glenn Miller SA Orchestra aka The Johnny Cooper Band. Two classmates joined us for the sunset concert in the botanical gardens, although we (as in Becky) got some nasty looks from the people in front of us because we (as in Becky) kept talking for most of the concert (hint, hint). Okay, okay, I got some looks too. As an aside, this Sunset Series is a real bargain (R25 per student) and a great way to watch the sun set on Devil's Peak and look out across the Cape Flats.

Afterwards, Puna (a very funny and charming doctor/classmate of ours from Botswana) joined us for dinner at the King's Wood Chinese Restaurant in Rondebosch. See review below.

So all in all, a very relaxed but enjoyable (and expensive) birthday weekend!

Restaurant reviews, part 2

Yindees - Thia (Gardens)
At first, Becky and I thought this was a cute little restaurant. But the building/house really opens up on the inside, and the whole place was bit "smarter" than we expected. Nonetheless, the food was good, maybe not quite Bangkok Cuisine/Amarin Thai-level but we were both pleased. Becky ordered green curry and I can't remember what I ordered.

King's Wood - Chinese (Rondebosch)
Tucked between the Pig & Swizzle and Steers on Main Rd., this restaurant looked like the kind of restaurant I normally avoid. Especially since the sign advertises sushi as well. But the sight four Asian guys chowing down food was encouraging. The best dish we had was the vegetarian chow mein. Not too greasy or overcooked. We also ordered sizzling fish with sweet and sour sauce, braised tofu with mushroom, and prawns with cashew nuts. Not great, not bad, but the portions were a bit small and the meal a bit pricey for the quality.

A real hole-in-the-wall restaurant - Ethiopian (Long Street)
We went out to lunch with a Stanford med school admit who is working here in Cape Town. First, in order to find this place, we had to find parking on Long Street at noon, which is nigh well impossible. Then we walked into the Africa Village Market (Castle & Long), which is filled with small shops selling herbal remedies, hippie who-knows-what, and some really nice paintings. Tucked in on the 1st floor of all these shops was a small room with an adjoining bathroom. The cooking was done on a burner on the floor. Becky described her meal as "a pile of meat on top of some bread" and wasn't too fond of it, but then noted that this was her second Ethiopian meal and that she doesn't really like the sour bread anyway. I, on the other hand, had a wonderfully yummy vegetarian combination with a couple different kinds of curry-like veggies and salad (again piled on top of bread). I guess I'll have to just wait until Nina and Brent get here so we can go again!

Gourmet Burger (Long Street)
Also located at the corner of Castle & Long, this is definitely not a hole-in-the-wall. The long menu features lots of burgers with all sorts of toppings as well as a couple of vegetarian burger options, salads, and other asides. All the food comes artisticly prepared, with lots of slices of avocados. Becky had the mixed green leaf salad while I had the garlic butter prawn burger. We liked the fries so much that we ordered an extra helping. Plus they use Heinz ketchup, not the strange-to-my-palate South African stuff.

Maz Sushi (Main Road, Sea Point)
I'd been wanting to try out this place since I first saw it. When we went in, the owners were busy throwing together several huge takeaway orders, and they warned us that it might be awhile. We later overheard them turning away other customers because they were running out of sushi rice and fish! We also overheard another customer proclaiming this the "best sushi in town". The presentation wasn't as nice as the sushi we saw at Willoughby and Co., but it was overall quite tasty, fresh, and not too extravagant. In particular, we liked the unagi and the spicy tuna maki rolls. The cape salmon/local fish nigiri was only so-so, though. The miso soup was tasty, if a bit on the salty side. We liked the fact that the pickled ginger was normal coloured, not that ridiculous bright pink stuff that is normall served. As an aside, I don't know why I feel somehow cheated when found out that the owners are actually from China and Taiwan (as opposed to Japanese). But we'll likely go back as it is within walking distance and the fish was quite fresh.